Men's Track

Matt Adams is in his third year as an assistant track and field coach, specializing in throws.

In his two years with the Chippewas, Adams has coached his throwers to three program records, five freshman program records, two Mid-American Conference individual championships, nine All-MAC honors, seven NCAA East Preliminary qualifiers covering 13 events, and three USA Track & Field Junior qualifiers.

Under Adams’ guidance, Banagis finished second in the weight throw in the MAC Championships with a throw measuring 69 feet, 3 ¼ inches, the fifth-best throw in MAC Championships history. Banagis placed third in both the discus and the hammer throw in the MAC Outdoor Championships in ’17, while another Adams protégé, Avery Joseph, earned All-MAC honors in the Javelin.

Also under Adams’ watch, Dobbelaere set the outdoor weight throw program record (194-2), and Targgart set CMU freshman records in the hammer throw (213-9) and in the weight throw (62-1 ¾). Both previous marks had stood for some 25 years.

In 2016, Adams-coached thrower Cole Walderzak earned the Men’s Most Outstanding Field Performer Award at the MAC Outdoor Championships when he won the hammer throw with a school-record toss of 215-7, and won the discus in a meet-record 191-10. Weiler earned the Men’s Freshman Performer of the Year at the MAC Indoor Championships. Six Chippewa throwers qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary First Round.

Prior to his arrival in Mount Pleasant, Adams served for four years as an assistant coach at Olivet Nazarene in Bourbonnais, Ill. Under Adams’ tutelage, Olivet Nazarene throwers earned three NAIA national championships, 19 All-America honors, and set 28 school and 17 conference records. In 2015, Olivet Nazarene’s Jacob Armbrust recorded the longest discus throw, 207-3, in Illinois collegiate history under Adams’ watch.

As a student-athlete at Oregon, Adams was an NCAA West Region qualifier in the javelin and helped the Ducks to the Pac-12 championship in 2005. He was a four-time National Junior College Athletics Association All-American in the javelin and the discus at Glendale (Calif.) Community College.

Adams holds and associate’s degree from Glendale Community College, a bachelor’s of science in sociology from Oregon, and a master’s of education from William Woods University, which he earned in 2012. Adams also holds multiple coaching certifications through USA Track & Field and the United States Track Field & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.